Ever since I outed an up-and-coming evangelical leader named Jonathan Merritt on my blog on July 23, one sentence has been running through my mind: I might have destroyed his life.

…No, what bothers me, what overwhelms me with guilt, is the concern for what I’ve done to a person I care about. But then I think of how hypocrisy must be exposed. And I think of this: The truth sets you free.

…In 2009, I emailed Jonathan Merritt to simply say I found his Op-Ed in USA Today to be interesting. He is a Christian whose writing on religious and environmental issues has been featured in two books and a variety of publications, from the Atlantic tothe Washington Post . Along with frequent appearances on “The O’Reilly Factor,” “Fox & Friends” and “CNN News,” Merritt has become a star among young people of faith. Oh, and his dad is the former president of the world’s largest Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention.

Jonathan and I exchanged a few emails, and a year later, in April 2010, we exchanged phone numbers. One night, we started text messaging one another. At this point, I perceived Jonathan to be a heterosexual male. Male he was, but not heterosexual. Jonathan’s text messages became flirtatious, and I became confused.

“Are you flirting with me?” I finally asked him. He admitted he was. And from there, the text messages became very explicit. It was only a matter of days before we met in person. Jonathan was going to be in Chicago at a conference, and he insisted that I be there. Not for the conference but for him.

…As I drove the three hours back home, watching the sun rise in the east, I ran the night around in my mind. Will I get to see him again? Would he ever come out for me? What if I met his family — what would they make of me? I wasn’t head over heels for him, but I was crushed out, and I couldn’t help imagining a future together, even if part of me knew it was impossible. The sexting and Skype sessions continued for a few more months. Turns out, he did want to see me again. We made plans for another meeting in October 2010 in Atlanta.

But that meeting never took place. My speaking engagement was canceled, and we stopped communicating other than sending the casual “Happy Holiday” text message.

…Outing a person is complex. There is no blanket formula for how and when and why to do it.

…I may continue to be haunted by what I’ve done, but in my heart, I know the truth. Do I think I destroyed Jonathan’s life? I do not. I gave him the opportunity to live life at his best.

Outing a person isn’t “complex” at all. It’s just wrong and indecent. Oooh, but it’s hypocrisy! That’s a BS excuse. EVERYBODY is a hypocrite. The only difference is the topic. What really happens is that liberals like Azariah Southworth feel compelled to control everyone’s life in order to justify their own choices and so, someone like Jonathan Merritt who was sneaking off the plantation was a threat. How dare he oppose gay marriage and tout Christianity! How dare he pretend to be straight! Guys like Azariah Southworth don’t have that option anymore and because they’re small people, they resent the fact that other people do.

Here’s a thought: Maybe gay Americans should be able to make their own choices about their lives without having to conform to the smothering, myopic vision liberals have for them. Whether they want to be in or out of the closet or they want to get therapy to try to go straight should be their decision. Nobody should force it on them. If gay marriage is the only issue you care about, you should probably vote Democrat, but if you’re gay and you don’t view your entire life through the prism of your own sexuality, so other issues like jobs, the economy, and immigration matter, too, then you should be voting Republican.